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Elderly people with cellulitis, diabetes, blood vessel disease, or cancer

People taking steroid treatments or chemotherapy

Intravenous drug users

Severe group A strep disease may also occur in healthy people who have no known risk factors.

Symptoms

Depending on the specific strep infection, symptoms can include

Fever

Severe pain and swelling

Redness at the site of a wound

Rash over large areas of the body

Dizziness

Confusion

Diagnosis

Severe group A strep infections are diagnosed by healthcare providers using a combination of clinical and laboratory test results.

All severe group A strep infections may lead to shock, organ failure, and death. Therefore, healthcare providers must diagnose and treat such infections quickly.

Treatment

Antibiotics used to treat these severe infections include penicillin, erythromycin, and clindamycin. If you have severe tissue damage, your healthcare provider may need to remove the tissue surgically or amputate the limb.